The War Z

… Something Less Catchy

Once again the folks at Hammerhead Games are in the spotlight with their MMO Zombie Survival game The War Z, this time due to a trademark issue that many have felt was only a matter of time. In a post on the official forums, it was announced that as of yesterday the game would be relabelled as Infestation: Survivor Stories.

It would seem that the season of goodwill has touched Hammerpoint , with Sergey Titov, the executive producer for The War Z, sending out a long open letter to the controversial MMO's playerbase, seeking to apologise for some of the game's issues, not to mention the behavioural practices of the studio itself.

Titov reckons that the overwhelming success of the game had something to do with the bad reputation the game garnered, tracing his "arrogance" back to early stats, and admitting that he was so focused on hitting the big-time, that he failed to listen to the community.

Titov also addresses his team's rather rather poor record of communication and community management, saying that Hammerpoint will be hiring additional staff to respond to future issues.

Just when we thought we were in for a quiet run up to Christmas, the zombie apocalypse happened! Sort of...

In the final Game Buzz of the season, Matt and Jon chat about the WarZ fiasco, Black Isle's unfathomable crowdfunding initiative, and THQ's bankruptcy. We also take a look at Defiance's cross-platform potential and ask why the hell Sony and Microsoft couldn't put aside their differences for the sake of their customers and consumers.

"I Gave Serious Thought To Cutting My Losses"

DayZ creator and developer Dean Hall has spoken out on the continuing controversy surrounding competing zombie MMO The War Z, which has been removed from Steam after claims of fraud and false advertising. Apparently the continuing debacle has compounded the stress of his massive DayZ workload, causing his blood pressure to rise and even made him consider leaving the industry altogether.

Outrage Over “Foundation” Release Features & Promises

UPDATE: It appears Valve have been listening to the outcry from its community, as The War Z has been temporarily pulled from sale. In an statement issued to Polygon, vice president of marketing Doug Lombardi apologised for the situation, stating "mistakes can be made," and that Valve have "temporarily removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build," although anyone who has already bought the game can still play it via Steam if they wish to.

ORIGINAL STORY: Nothing like a bit of controversy to end the year with, eh? The War Z, the persistent online zombie survival FPS that emerged shortly after the initial success of DayZ, is currently facing a wave of consumer wrath after its launch on Steam earlier this week. A misleading product description prompted calls from gamers of being falsely sold an incomplete game and, in some cases, out-right fraud and with the past few days seeing responses from all sides of the issue, the latest chapter in the saga has seen the product description being changed to better reflect the current state of the game and a rather bizarre interview with the Executive Producer.